Business models that underpin telemedia are evolving and rapidly changing – you can’t get away from AI, agentic commerce, social media and traffic generation, as well as digital wallets. However, that doesn’t mean that the underlying tech and services that have long powered this industry aren’t also still generating huge revenues, albeit often in new ways.
Bolivian MNO VIVA Boliva has this week made a big push to enhance its SMS business, teaming up with VOX Solutions to offer its business customers SMS+. This enhanced version of ‘ordinary’ text messaging aims to bring the rich media benefits seen increasingly in RCS and OTT messaging, to good old SMS. While the operator attests that “it’s not about selling more messages, but better service”, it is likely to prove to be a boon to the operator – and a move likely to be copied across LatAm if not beyond.
Telcos have seen bulk SMS revenues plateau in recent years, unable to squeeze higher prices out if marketing messaging at the same time as losing traffic to RCS and OTT. Conversely, many content and service providers have been drifting towards using RCS as a traffic generator alongside social media and search marketing to drive users.
Together this erosion of SMS revenues has started to be a concern for many MNOs. The advent of SMS+ services aims to help revitalise this – offering increased volumes for MNOs as well as servicing the traffic generation needs of SPs and other telemedia players. It is an interesting potential win-win across the industry that we look forward to exploring more across our events this year.
E-citizenship: one to watch
In Egypt, meanwhile, tpay has pulled off something of a coup, getting a licence to run DCB payment services for all government services in the country. While Egypt has a relatively high penetration of banked customers, many of its citizens are decidedly mobile-first and this move brings government services – ‘e-citizenship’ – closer to the people. This is a trend we are also going to see more of worldwide this year.
E-citizenship, or digital citizenship, is about responsibly and respectfully using technology to participate in online communities, access digital services, and engage with society, encompassing ethical behaviour, critical evaluation of info, and online safety. Already starting to gain traction in many markets across Europe, LatAm and MENA, access to services run by and for governments are increasingly becoming something of interest to the telemedia community.
Carrier billing is particularly interesting in this context as it helps bridge the gap between the unbanked and the move towards digital citizenship. DCB fits into this ecosystem as a crucial, secure and rapid payment method, especially in developing regions where credit card penetration is low.
Carrier billing spend is expected to grow by 55% between 2024 and 2027, with the highest growth rates (CAGR >37%) in the Indian Subcontinent and MENA. While initially used for digital content (apps, games), DCB is expanding into new areas like education, utility services and digital subscriptions.
In regions like Europe, DCB providers, such as Digital Virgo, are using Electronic Money Institution licenses to enable carrier billing for a wider range of services, including potential digital, “physical goods” like ID documentation, tickets and so on. Governments, meanwhile, are integrating mobile payments and DCB to improve access to digital, e-government services. Telemedia can help and tpay shows just how this can work.
MVNO: a new way to operate?
Another ‘new’ business model that is gaining traction – with likely huge implications for telemedia – is the growing interest in MVNOs. Brands, particularly in the fintech sector, are eyeing MVNOs as a means to bundle connectivity in with other services. This model could well extend into our sector as SPs and other players look to create offers that bundle services with network access. In an era where airtime billing is slowing down, this could be an interesting new way to monetise content and services, for both SPs and, indirectly, for MNOs.
While the MVNO model allows for the bundling of content, services and connectivity into a device that simply works out the box, what it really brings is the ability to be highly targeted in who those services are aimed at.
The obvious area is travel. Already, eSIM providers and MVNOs are working together to create innovative ways to allow users to turn mobile access on and off in different countries as they move through them, and these ‘international carrier’ services are cropping up in new breed bank apps such as Revolut. It won’t be long before other niches are targeted in this way, with revenues that come not from minutes and messages (the old airtime model), but from subscriptions.
The interesting thing will be how payments for goods are worked into this model – especially for MVNO models that aren’t operated by banks and fintechs – as that could be a real game changer for the billing tools that come to dominate the content and services market in the years ahead.
